It’s become clockwork for the Tigers to walk away victorious this season, a testament to their consistent and dominant performance, and they continued the trend tonight by dominating Xavier.
After a successful weekend at Alex Box Stadium, LSU was poised for a challenging game, especially given their history with mid-week games like the one against North Dakota State last Tuesday. Despite a six-run deficit at one point, the Tigers showed remarkable resilience. This determination is a testament to their strength and unwavering commitment to the game, inspiring all who witnessed their performance.
“The North Dakota State game where we were chasing six runs,” said LSU head coach Jay Johnson. “The reason we were able to come back [is] because our bullpen has been great, and we were able to go five scoreless innings.”
The Tigers came out firing against the Musketeers.
In the bottom of the first inning, Jared Jones hit his seventh home run of the season to give LSU an early 2-0 lead and set the tone for the game. Daniel Dickinson immediately hit a homer to the left-center field, fueling the fire with his sixth home run of the year.
The Tigers’ offensive prowess paved the way against Xavier, scoring seven runs. LSU went through the lineup almost twice before gaining all three outs, showcasing their relentless attack and keeping the momentum firmly in their favor. It was an impressive display of the Tigers’ offensive firepower.
Freshman right-handed pitcher William Schmidt took the mound in the first inning with only 14 pitches and a strike before being subbed out for Jaden Noot for the next two innings.
Through the first three innings, the Tigers had a 17-run lead, the second-largest since 2014, when LSU went head-to-head with Northwestern with an 18-run lead.
Though Schmidt and Noot had consistent innings, Conner Ware took to the mound and had a rough outing. He gave up two runs on three hits and a walk and couldn’t make it through the fourth inning, causing a pitching change to bring in Mavrick Rizy.
Although the Tigers had questions about power in the box at the beginning of the season, this lineup proves their bats are heating up, especially for transfer Tanner Reaves. His second home run of the season was a grand slam in the bottom of the third that opened up the score to end the third inning, with LSU leading Xavier 17-0.
Consistency and large score numbers will be crucial heading into SEC play at the end of the week. The SEC is known for its high level of competition, and the Tigers will face a different caliber of teams than seen thus far in the season.
After beating the Musketeers 18-4, the hits just kept coming. It showed that LSU can play mid-week and still bring home the win, which will be important in the following weeks.
The Tigers begin SEC play this weekend. They kick it off at home versus the Missouri on Friday night.
It marks the beginning of a new chapter for LSU. The anticipation of seeing the Tigers perform in the SEC is palpable to this team’s long-term success this season.
